Just for clarification panfish just a slang name for "sunfish" i.e. Centrarchidae family which includes the "Black" bass. Yes largemouth and smallmouth are indeed Sunfish :-)
So a rock bass is just as much a bass as a large or smallmouth is.
I would not typically consider a rock bass a panfish as they can get pretty large and have a big mouth and are generally much more aggressive than others in the family like bluegills and crappies.
Rock bass are actually great eating as long as they don't have worms and even then are fine as long as that does not gross you out hahaha if you hold the fillets up to a light you can see the worm and cut them out.
Lake Geneva in Walworth county has tons of them.